


The Stars Tell It (a Transformers: Prime fanfic)

by FriendlyNeighborhoodMage10396



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Action/Adventure, Autobots - Freeform, Comedy, Cybertron, Dark Energon (Transformers), Decepticons - Freeform, Family, Gen, Heroes, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Done Tagging, I'm lame, Mild Language, Robots, Transformers - Freeform, Vehicles, Villains, Violence, father figure Optimus, heroes vs villains, lol, mention of Ironhide, not too much blood though, screw tagging, transformers: prime - Freeform, uh, we all love Ironhide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23889454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyNeighborhoodMage10396/pseuds/FriendlyNeighborhoodMage10396
Summary: "Rani Blanche is a lone-wolf teenage girl with an unfortunate past. One night, she's caught in a battle between 2 larger-than-life robots! Having seen the robots, Optimus Prime brings her back to base, where she meets his team...along with 3 other humans: Jack, Miko, and Rafael. She winds up living with the Autobots...and during her time, there, she brings up the past that haunts her. She also begins to see a father-figure in a certain Autobot, and becomes frienemies with a certain Decepticon.These are her adventures with Jack, Miko, Rafael, and the Autobots...."
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter I: Life-Changer

**Author's Note:**

> I pretty much pulled an all-nighter, watching the entire 1st season of "Transformers: Prime", last week. I actually really like it! I didn't think I'd ever get into it, but here I am! I am gonna go by the storyline...just not starting at the same time the original kids meet the Autobots. Not exactly, anyway. Also, I'm still in season 2...and, when campus finally starts back up for me, updates will be really slow. So, if you happen to enjoy this story, please be patient with me. I also have a bunch of other stories that are yelling at me to start on them, again, so...yeah.... 
> 
> Ok! Hope you all enjoy! ^_^

It was 4:30 in the early evening, on a Saturday. Rani Blanche watches the sky slowly turn into sunset. Behind her, little children played in the playground with each other, and their families. Hearing them laugh made her feel solemn, and think back to when she was their age, happily running over to her mother.

The 17-year old girl was brought back to reality when she heard a commotion behind her. She looked over her shoulder in curiosity, and saw that a couple of older kids...boys, to be exact...were rudely teasing a little girl of her doll, causing the poor kid to wail and cry. 

Rani wasn't a fan of bullying. So, she stood up from her perch at the edge of the cliff she had been sitting on, and calmly walked over. "What's going on, here, boys?" she asked the older kids with a smile, placing a hand on her hip. Her smile turned into a small smirk when the boys gasped and immediately acted like they had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the little girl was looking up at her with tear-filled eyes. To Rani, the little girl seemed too young to form her own sentences, yet. Rani held her hand out. "Give it up...unless you want your parents to know you've been picking on someone who's smaller than you." she told the boys. They looked at each other, nervously, and in defeat, gave her the doll before rushing off. Rani gave the little girl a kind smile, and handed her back her doll. The little girl smiled, brightly, and nodded her thanks before running off.

Rani watched her leave with a small smile. She had a bit of reputation among the kids in the neighborhood. She had never meant for it to be that way, though. For some reason, they all seemed to look up to her when their parents weren't around. These kids were usually hanging out at either the playground, or any abandoned places or construction sites. In those particular places, if they were too young to be hanging around them, Rani would step in and take care of things before the parents could know about it, and freak out. The kids usually listened to her, even when sometimes, they would try to argue back. That's when she would start to pull the "informing parents" card.

Rani adored kids. Well, most of them, anyway. In fact, during the summer season, she worked part-time as a babysitter. She had her conditions, though...something that surprisingly didn't seem to bother anybody around town.

The teenage girl sat back down at the edge of the cliff, and looked out at the world beyond. She missed her mother, terribly...and wished for her to be there with her. She looked down.... She was Lord only knew how many feet off the ground, down there. If she just leaned forward, a little more....

Rani shook her head, quickly snapping out of those dark thoughts. Just because her mother was no longer with her, doesn't mean that she needed to leave the world, herself. _Besides...suicide happens in this world enough times as it is...._ she thought.

Rani never felt like she truly belonged, anywhere. For many years, a part of her has felt numb and as if she was worthless. Why should she stick around any longer? But no, she was stronger than that. Suicide wasn't the answer, and she knew that it never would be. Her mother wouldn't have wanted that for her, anyway. Rani didn't have any friends...never had, even when she was a child. She wasn't born and raised in Nevada, either. She lived there because of a reason that didn't quite involve her family. She went to school...sometimes. Ok, most times. Oddly enough, nobody had ever questioned her whereabouts or what she gets up to...which was nothing, other than being on her own and doing whatever. She kept her grades up, and it wasn't as if anybody was going to notice her existence, anyway. If she wasn't there for roll-call, oh well.

The teen girl let out a sigh, shutting her eyes as she felt the breeze blow against her face and through her hair. She's learned to enjoy being alone...it was her happy place.

She stayed on the edge of that cliff until night fell, and she knew that she needed to get back home. With a sigh, she stood up, and began walking herself home. She lived alone, in a small abandoned hangar, just outside of town. Over the years, she has learned to fend for herself. Cooking and cleaning, anyway. She didn't really have to worry about bills, since the hangar was abandoned. She cooked her food camping-style, and used whatever money she earned from her job to save up for any sweets, a future vehicle of her own, and other important things. 

Due to her odd eating habits, Rani was a rather thin girl, with small breasts and hips, nails painted dark, mismatched eyes, and short brunette hair. Her wardrobe was usually torn clothes that ended up filthy at the end of the day, and she usually wore a choker with a ring attached to the front of it. She had only one pair of shoes, and those were the black-and-white converse she was wearing, now.

As she walked along the quiet road and empty desert fields, the moon rose higher into the sky and the air began to get chilly. In the far distance, she could hear coyotes howling. If she wanted to get home, she had better pick up the pace....

As she picked up her speed to a jog, she could hear something entirely different from howling coyotes...whatever it was, it sounded big, and it was getting closer to where she was! Before she had a chance to look around, a semi-truck came into view at high speed! Right behind it and in the air was an odd-looking jet! What was a jet doing flying so low to the ground?! And what was a big rig like the semi doing speeding around on desert fields at night?! 

Rani watched with wide eyes as the two vehicles chased each other around...the jet finally began shooting at the rig, which shocked the teen girl. What on earth was going on, here?! She then watched in even greater shock when the jet transformed...and crashed right into the truck, causing it to transform, as well...into inhumanly-tall robots! A deep, menacing voice sounded, speaking in a language Rani had never heard of, before, and the jet robot tackled and punched the other robot! 

Feeling too weirded out, Rani turned and began to run away. _This is a dream._ she thought, hearing the two robots fight behind her. _It has to be! Mankind hasn't made robots like that, or that big! ....Have they?!_

She let out a cry of surprise when the robot that had been the big rig crashed down right in front of her, blocking her path! The robot's eyes were glowing blue, and he was shaking his head, as if to clear it. Rani had no words...her mind couldn't form proper English at that moment as the robot stood back up. He was way taller than she had previously figured! He had to be about 30-ft! 

Once again, Rani turned and ran away in fear. She hoped that she was just dreaming, and that she had fallen asleep while sitting at the edge of the cliff. However, something told her that the battling robots were real! 

As she ran, she looked over her shoulder, once. The two robots were still battling and giving each other punches. They tried to side-step around each other, but both of them seemed too smart for that. Rani let out a surprised yelp when she suddenly tripped, and fell forward, scraping her hands against the dry ground. She scrambled up just before one of the robots landed in the exact spot she was just in. The teenager kept losing her footing in a panic with the battle going on around her. 

She skidded to a stop on her heels, and yelped in surprise as one of the robots fell right in front of her! This one had sharp teeth, which made her extremely nervous. He cleared his head, and his glowing red eyes locked onto hers for a split second. Panicking, she spun around, and ran in the other direction, again. She heard a loud crash right behind her, then. After a few seconds, the semi-truck robot sped into view! The teen girl shielded her face from flying dust as the vehicle skidded over to the side and stopped in front of her. The driver's side door swung open, then.

"Get in!" a deep voice commanded with urgency. "Hurry!" 

Rani jumped in without much of a thought, and the door slammed right behind her. 

"Now, hang on, tight!" the voice told her. At the exact same time, the radio glowed with every spoken word. Rani quickly grabbed onto the bar above the door with both hands as the truck launched into speed, leaving behind large clouds of dust.

Rani had never been inside a vehicle as large as a semi-truck...and she didn't have time to think about putting on the seat-belt, so she had to hold on as tight as she could onto the bar. Outside, she saw the truck's side-view mirror tilt to look behind it. The robot he had been battling was nowhere in sight. But then, Rani saw a sputtering jet zoom up into the air, and fly in the opposite direction. It was going away. She let out the breath that she had been holding without realizing it, and the truck began to slow down to a stop.

With one hand, Rani pinched herself on her arm. But, she was awake...there was no way what just happened could be a dream. 

"Are you alright?" the voice from before asked with concern.

At first, Rani had forgotten that the truck could talk. But then, she nodded. "I...I think so...." she replied. "Just a little shaken up.... Who, or...what, are you?"

"My name is Optimus Prime." the truck told her. "I am an autonomous robotic organism from the planet, Cybertron. But you may call me an 'Autobot' for short."

_Autonomous robotic organism?_ she wondered in confusion. "So...what, you're an alien or something?" she asked, not meaning to sound rude.

"If that is what you humans call beings not of your world...." he replied. "Then, yes, I suppose I am."

Rani thought back on the fight. "....Why are you here?" she asked.

"To protect your planet. I, and my Autobots." he answered. "From Megatron, leaser of the Decepticons, and whatever plots he may weave to harm earth." 

"Is Megatron the other robot you were fighting?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Yes. He is...quite the opposite of me, in terms of personality." he told her, solemnly.

_No joke._ she thought. _So...Autobots and Decepticons, aliens on earth...some of them being here to protect it from evil aliens. Ok, then!_

"I must ask: what is a young human such as yourself doing, alone, at this time of night?" Optimus asked her, curiously.

Rani sighed, tiredly. "Well...I _was_ on my way home." she replied. "Until I heard you and...Megatron...chasing each other, and then fighting." She frowned, slightly, and looked outside. "Speaking of my home...I don't think this is the direction to it...." As a matter of fact, Optimus was heading in the opposite direction of her hangar! "Where are you taking me?"

"As a rule, you must now be placed under our care, for the time being." the Autobot replied. "You are possibly in grave danger, now that you have seen Megatron...and he has seen you. Undoubtedly, he had spotted you while he was battling me."

"So...what, are humans not really allowed to know about you guys?" she asked in confusion. 

"I don't believe all of humanity would really appreciate our existence." he told her.

She frowned in thought. _Right.... Giant robotic aliens? Press would have a field day, and so would civilians. I bet these robots just aren't really prepared to be bombed with a million questions._ "Oh...." she said, quietly.

"You...understand what I'm saying?" the truck asked her.

"Yeah...I get it." she replied. "Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut. You guys don't exist to humans. So...wait, there's more of you Autobots?"

"Correct. My team...." Optimus said. "And of course, Megatron's forces. If you're going to be under our watch, from now on, I highly advise you to stay as far away from the Decepticons as possible."

Rani relaxed. "Ok...I understand." she told him. 

Optimus made a sound of approval. "What is your nomenclature?" he asked, curiously.

At first, she didn't know what he meant. But after realizing it, she replied, "My name? ....It's 'Rani'. Rani Blanche."

"Rani.... That is a strange name for a human." Optimus mused.

The teen girl couldn't help but smile at the comment. "I'm sure your name would sound strange to humans, too." she told him. She was surprised by a soft chuckle. 

"Yes. I suppose it would." he replied.

Rani smiled, a bit, and watched as the desert world around her flew by. One thing she knew for sure: tonight had definitely become a life-changer!

A little while later, Optimus drove through a tunnel that was hidden inside a very large and oddly-shaped desert rock. The tunnel had a road built inside, and the way was lit by circular lights on the walls. "Where are we?" Rani whispered in wonder.

"The Autobot Omega One Outpost." Optimus replied. "It is our base, where we hide and live among humans and Decepticons. Nobody has been able to find us, here, so far."

Optimus then honked his horn as he pulled into a very large and brightly-lit room. The sound of his horn grabbed the attention of four giant robots, each of them looking completely different from the other. One of them, Rani could easily tell, was a female. 

The truck slowed to a complete stop, and opened his door. "Out you get." he told the teenager, kindly. He patiently waited for her climb out before beginning to transform into his robotic self. 

Rani looked around at the robots around her. Part of her wondered if this was a dream, again...but a pinch to her thigh with her own fingers told her otherwise. She just couldn't believe that larger-than-life aliens were living on earth! She couldn't help but wonder about their planet...as in, what happened to it, or why did they leave?

The female Autobot walked up to Optimus, being careful where she stepped. "Optimus...I thought four humans knowing about us was enough." she told him with a raised eyebrow. She was the smallest of all the Autobots, with blue and grey coloring, and blue eyes. She was slender, and Rani wondered what sort of vehicle she could transform into.

"I agree." a taller, bulkier Autobot said with a frown. He was white and orange, all over, with a heart-monitor line on both of his arms. "Who is this?" Unlike the female Autobot, his tone sounded rude and suspicious. 

A yellow Autobot bent down and seemed to smile at Rani, his round blue eyes seeming to sparkle. He waved while making strange little robotic sounds, and Rani waved back, albeit shyly.

"Everyone, meet Rani." Optimus told the others, causing the teen girl to look up at him. Now that she was in bright lighting, she could see that the nearly-30-ft robot was red, blue, and silver, all over. "She is a witness to a battle between Megatron and I."

"What was Megatron doing in Nevada?" the female Autobot asked, suspiciously.

"Who knows...." the orange-and-white Autobot replied with a roll of his eyes. "Let me guess: this one is now under our protection, as well." Rani was becoming irritated with the rudeness he was showing off. "Three children, plus a human agent, is enough already."

"Ratchet, you know the rules." Optimus told him. His tone was serious, but also calm and collected. "It is for her safety. Especially considering the fact that Megatron has seen her." The orange-and-white Autobot rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Well...since she's going to be with us for Primus only knows how long, we might as well introduce ourselves." the female Autobot sighed, then looked down at Rani.

"This, here, is Arcee." Optimus told the teen girl. "She is the guardian of a human ally who visits here, quite often."

Arcee nodded, politely. "Nice to meet you...I guess." she said. 

"As you may have heard me mention his name, this is Ratchet...our medic." the tallest of the Autobots said, motioning to the rude Autobot, who just made a sound of disapproval. "He's...still getting used to having humans around." Optimus then motioned to the yellow Autobot. "And this is Bumblebee. He is the guardian of another human ally of ours."

Bumblebee made a sound, and seemed to smile, again.

Rani looked up at Optimus. "How many human allies do you guys have?" she asked.

"Only a few." Arcee replied, walking over to a wall and lean against it with her arms crossed. "There's Jack, Rafael, Miko, and Agent Fowler. And now, of course, you."

"Where are the children, and Bulkhead?" Optimus asked, turning to Ratchet as the medical robot began to tap some sort of machine Rani didn't recognize to be for humans.

"Bulkhead took Miko home." Ratchet replied. 

"Bumblebee and I have already done the same with Jack and Rafael." Arcee told her leader. She then nodded to Rani. "Should we take the newbie home?"

Rani looked around, and saw a gurnee against a wall. "The 'newbie' doesn't mind spending the night, here." she said with a bit of a snarky tone, giving Arcee a small smirk before turning on her heel, and began walking over to the gurnee. She figured it was too late at night to go back to her hangar, now, anyway. The Autobots watched as she simply laid down, and shut her eyes.

"Well! She certainly has some spark in her!" Ratchet said, sarcastically, and went back to his work. 

"She reminds me of someone, a little bit." Arcee said to Optimus with a smirk. "Don't you think?" 

Optimus sighed, and nodded. "Ironhide...." he replied. 

"If he were here, I'm sure he would get along with her, quite well." Ratchet commented.

"Can't quite say that...after all, we've only literally just met her." Arcee told him.

Optimus studied the teenage human girl. He had a feeling that she was keeping something in. What, however, he didn't know. He planned on keeping an eye on her for the time being.


	2. Chapter II: Loner Girl

Rani woke up to unfamiliar sounds, and her back hurting. Groggily, she opened her eyes...and just about freaked out when she saw a group of larger-than-life robots standing around in the room! But then, she calmed down, and sat up when she recognized the Autobots, and remembered last night's events.

_So, it really wasn't a dream, after all...._ she thought, rubbing the back of her neck. She winced at how sore her back felt. She could only guess that was only from sleeping on a gurnee, and not her own bed back at home.

"Optimus, the new human is awake...finally." Ratchet's voice said, gruffly. 

"The new girl? Cool!" a teenage girl's voice exclaimed, excitedly. Rani felt embarrassed when all eyes turned upon her. She was not a fan of being stared at....

Arcee walked up, her arms folded against her chest. "Last night's excitement took a lot of you, huh?" she asked.

"Mm, you could say that." Rani replied, tiredly, and with a sigh to match. "I almost always sleep in like this."

"So...you're Rani Blanche?" a short boy with glasses asked as he stepped up. When she nodded, he said, "I-I've heard of you! You're like, the mom of every kid in town!" 

Rani wanted to hide her face. "Oh...is that what the kids in town are saying?" she asked with a fake smile, trying not to show how bashful she was.

"Well...I mean, you're definitely the talk among them...." the boy said, looking like he was regretting bringing the whole thing up. He then tried to change the subject. "I'm Rafael. This is Jack, and Miko." He motioned a hand to two other kids, who were both taller than him, and undoubtedly older.

Rani recognized the two. She had seen them around school, sometimes. Apparently, Jack was thinking the same thing about her.

"Hey, aren't you that quiet girl at school? I've seen you around, before!" Miko, a girl with long black-and-pink hair, said.

"Miko!" Jack scolded, viewing her comment as rude.

"What? It's true!" Miko exclaimed in defense, and with a shrug.

Meanwhile, Rani wasn't quite ready to be dealing with a lot of noise. She needed coffee...and food. She doubted there was a kitchen, anywhere, in this base. "Optimus? I don't suppose you could take me back home?" she asked the tallest Autobot. "I need something to eat...." _A shower and a change of clothes would be nice, as well._ she thought.

"I have some food in my backpack if you want." Rafael offered, taking the teen girl by surprise. "I always pack extra stuff with me, just in case." 

Rani was touched by the offer. "Thanks, kiddo...but I gotta get back to my place for a shower and a change of clothes, too. Not just food." she told him. She then looked back up at Optimus. "We can come right back here when I'm done." 

"Optimus...." Ratchet muttered to the Autobot leader in a warning tone.

Optimus thought it over, for a minute, then nodded. "Alright. But let's not take too much time, over there." he told her, his response surprising his comrade. 

Rani nodded in understanding, and got up from the gurnee.

"We will back, later." Optimus informed his team, then transformed into the semi-truck as Rani walked over and climbed in. Rafael, Jack, and Miko waved goodbye as the tallest Autobot backed up, and drove through the tunnel that lead to and from the base. 

Once they were gone, Ratchet facepalmed and shook his head in disapproval.

A little while later, Optimus pulled up close to an old abandoned hangar. Although, he was puzzled by Rani's choice of home-living. From what he knew, humans lived in actual houses...and for children and teenagers, the parents were usually around at the houses. So, why was Rani living in a hangar that once belonged to small aerial vehicles, and with no sign of her family, anywhere?

Rani jumped out of the truck, meanwhile, and began walking toward the hangar. Optimus remained in vehicle mode, not wanting to draw the attention of passing humans or Decepticons. Rani pressed a button with the palm of her hand, and the large door of the hangar began to open. She ducked down and headed inside.

Optimus could see that the inside looked like a regular home...only, there was no second floor, or any separation of what could've been different rooms. The girl had almost everything in one hangar: a mattress with bed-sheets, pillows, and a blanket...one area of the hangar was made to look like a bathroom, complete with a large curtain for privacy...another area, much to Optimus' surprise, held objects he believed were meant for survival purposes. There was a large chest that contained he didn't know what, a smaller chest that looked like it could be a tool-box, and near a corner of said area was a large cabinet. Near her bed was what the Autobot assumed to be a dresser for the girl's wardrobe. Some parts of the hangars walls looked rusted, and the pillars that held up the ceiling had cobwebs on them, and looked worn. The ceiling lights looked dated, but functional. He also noticed some electrical objects...one of them being a coffee-maker, and the other being an old tv that stood on a couple of boxes. 

While impressed that the girl had what she needed in an abnormal home, he still had a couple of concerns: if bad weather was happening, how was this hangar supposed to protect her, and...where were the parents? He noticed that the inside of the hangar looked like it could be for only a single person! There were no extra beds...or, extra anything, really. He had a theory that he didn't feel too pleased about...but no, she couldn't be-!

"Not much to look at, huh?" Rani asked him, her voice startling him out of his observations. She had a small, sad smile on her face as she shuffled through the chest near her bed. "I worked on it, myself, over the past few years. You have no idea how many trials and errors...and injuries...I had to deal with." She let out an embarrassed laugh. She was aware that her home didn't look the best. But it was why she kept it closed up and a secret to the world.

Optimus waited, patiently, as she prepared for a shower...getting out a fresh pair of torn jeans, a black holed t-shirt, and a cropped dark-denim sleeveless vest, along with a pair of clean black socks.

Rani was lost in her memories as she let warm water wash away last night's dirt and dust. Talking about her past hurt.... She never wanted to talk about it, with anybody. However, she felt like she could tell the Autobot leader about it. _Maybe later...._ she decided. Perhaps, when the right time came, she would tell him. But as of now, she still hardly knew him.

After about ten minutes, Rani shut the water off, and grabbed the towel to dry off. After taking care of that, she got into her fresh clothes and sneakers before brushing out her hair and brushing her teeth. Once both of those were done, she pulled back the curtain, and headed over to the large cabinet. As she opened it up to grab some food, she noticed that Optimus hadn't spoken a single word. She pulled out a jar of peanut-butter, and a couple slices of bread from a loaf, along with a buttering knife from one of the cabinet drawers. She wondered what the Autobot could be thinking about. However, it wasn't her place to pry, so she wasn't going to. Although, she was curious about something....

"So, what happened to Cybertron?" she asked him as she sat down to prepare her brunch. "There has to be another reason why you and the others are here, on earth." 

Optimus seemed to stir at her question, and he hesitated before responding. "....War, lead by Megatron, overtook our planet. Unfortunately, we were losing that battle.... I had to get my Autobots and myself away before Megatron or his forces could harm us any more. For the time being, we had chosen your planet as our new home...so long as we didn't draw attention to any humans, or any Decepticons who could have chosen earth as their new home, as well. But, we are slowly getting attached to your planet. I fear Cybertron has become a barren wasteland, by now.... My Autobots and myself are the only ones left in this world. As far as our other comrades, we know not of their whereabouts, or if they are anywhere near earth."

Rani took a bite out of her sandwich, mulling over his story. She had never been in war, but she could imagine how horrible it was. Optimus must have had lost many of his friends on Cybertron.... "I'm sorry...." she told him, quietly, feeling sorry for him and his team. "War is a nightmare."

"That it most certainly is." the Autobot agreed. "I do not wish harm or danger to come to humanity from the Decepticons. That is why we are here, for the most part." He paused, for a moment. "I...understand that even humanity has its dark side." 

Rani scoffed. "Yeah...you got that right." she replied. "Murders happen, theft, people destroying other people's lives for no reason...war.... I guess you could say some of humanity are our own versions of Decepticons. Just...we don't have super technology and weaponry like you guys do. We just have the standard stuff." She finished her sandwich, then stood up to wash the butter-knife and put the peanut-butter away. "Believe me, Optimus. I wish all of humanity were sunshine and rainbows. But, we're not...." 

Judging by the sad tone in her voice, Optimus could tell that the girl had mixed opinions about her own race. He watched as she began packing up an army bag with snacks, a couple of small weapons, some extra clothes, and a little device that was connected to what looked like wires to him. He had a double-take when he noticed scars peeking out from her shirt sleeves. Now, where did those come from? He mentally frowned in wonder and suspicion. He decided to push it aside for the time being as Rani closed up her home.

The teen girl climbed up and into the truck...she felt like she was climbing a mountain, considering her size compared to the big rig. It was a little humiliating.... 

"Are you ready to go back to base?" Optimus asked her as she settled down in the driver's seat.

"Yup! I only wanted to shower and get some food in me." she replied, buckling herself up and setting her bag on the passenger seat. She realized that she had completely forgotten about grabbing some coffee. _Oh, well...._ she thought. _There's always tomorrow._

Optimus backed up until he was on the road. Then, he began driving in the direction of the base. He tried to make small talk, due to the now-awkward silence. "Uhm...you know, you might like my good friend, Ironhide." he said, cringing at his own awkwardness. He wasn't used to being very social, even with his own team. 

"Oh?" Rani asked, curiously. "Who's Ironhide?"

"My weapons specialist." he replied. "I hope you do not take this in any wrong way...but, you remind us of him. Somewhat.... I feel like you two would get along, quite well." 

Rani smiled, bashfully. "Well...if he ever swings by earth, I think I'd like to meet him." she said. The Autobot's response was a chuckle. 

Optimus sounded his horn as he pulled into the base, drawing the attention of Ratchet. He transformed once Rani had jumped out with her bag. 

"Where are the children and the others?" the tallest Autobot asked the medic. 

"I assume they are out goofing off, somewhere." Ratchet replied with a wave of his hand. "They probably won't be back until later." 

"I see...." Optimus said.

Rani spotted a tv up on one of the platforms. Feeling bored, she walked up the stairs that lead to said platform, and sat down on the couch before grabbing the remote and turning the tv on.

Ratchet, meanwhile, glanced at her with an irritated look. "I still cannot believe you are allowing another human under our protection." he muttered to his leader. "And I still say three children and a human agent is enough."

"I don't understand your hostility towards her...it is worse than how you are with the other children." Optimus told him, keeping his voice low so that Rani would pay them no mind. "She has done nothing to you, or any of the others."

"I just think babysitting these humans is a waste of time." Ratchet replied, his voice equally as low. "We are not a human daycare center."

Optimus let out a tired sigh.

The medical officer glanced over at Rani. "I don't trust her, Optimus." he whispered. "The other children don't seem to pose as much of a threat as she does. She could rat us out to her entire race at anytime!"

"Ratchet...." the lead Autobot whispered back, his tone firm but trying not to sound angry or agitated. "I sense no desire of any sort coming from her. She is alone, and needs someone to look after her. _Especially_ , now that Megatron has returned."

Ratchet seemed surprised at how defensive his leader was being over a human girl. "Why are you so protective of her?" he whispered. "Yes, yes, I'm aware of the Megatron reason. But you are acting more defensive of her than you are of the other children!"

Optimus looked over at Rani with a thoughtful expression. If he was being honest, he didn't have an answer that would be good enough for his comrade. He felt for the girl, after seeing her living situation. He was curious to know of her story, but he had a feeling she wouldn't really be willing to talk about it. For now, he would just have to let her open up on her own. 

"I...I am unsure...." he replied, his eyes downcast. Having no other answer, he left the room to think things over. 

Ratchet let out an exasperated sigh. He knew that he wasn't going to get a proper answer from his leader. Despite this, he decided to keep a very close eye on the human girl. For some reason, he had this feeling that she was holding something back. Something...unpleasant. 

With a suspicious look, he went back to work.

Unbeknownst to the Autobots, Rani had heard every word. She appreciated that they tried to keep their voices low...but as larger-than-life robots, they couldn't help the volume in their voices. With the tv playing as background noise, she leaned back into the sofa, and sighed. She could understand Ratchet's suspicion of her. If he believed she was keeping something from all of them, he would be right. 

She just didn't feel ready to talk about her past, yet....


	3. Chapter III: In Charge

Rani must have fallen asleep, because a couple of serious-sounding voices startled her awake. She glanced around before sitting forward. How long had she been napping? She looked over at who was speaking...Optimus and Ratchet were discussing what sounded like a very serious matter, and Ratchet was asking where Megatron was to find a whole bunch of fallen robots.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and stood up. Her movements brought the attention of the Autobots. "Oh...." Ratchet muttered. "She's still here. She's been so quiet, I had forgotten she was sitting there."

"What are we talking about? What's going on?" Rani asked, groggily, as she walked forward, and leaned against the railing. 

"Uh...n-nothing of importance." Ratchet replied, not wanting to scare the human girl with Megatron's possible plots. He glanced over at his broken contraption, now concealed behind glass in a storage space. _How had she not heard the commotion that had just happened, moments ago?_ he wondered.

Optimus gave his comrade a stern look for his lie. "We fear Megatron is plotting something large, involving dark energon." he told the girl. 

"What's 'dark energon'?" Rani asked, curiously, though still groggy from her nap. 

Before either of the bots could reply, the sounds of engines were heard. The three looked over at the tunnel as a blue motorcycle, a yellow Camaro, and a green dirt car pulled up. Miko and Rafael hopped out of Bumblebee and an Autobot that Rani had seen, this morning, but never got his name. Jack, meanwhile, hopped off of Arcee. The three vehicles transformed as the kids let out short cheers. 

"I'm guessing they went for a joy-ride." Rani muttered, sarcastically, to Optimus...who glanced back at her before focusing on the kids and his team.

"That was awesome!" Jack exclaimed, happily, up at Arcee, who gave a sort-of casual shrug and wave of he hand. Meanwhile, the green Autobot was handing Miko a black guitar-case. 

Optimus began heading toward the tunnel, his footsteps causing the room to shake. "Autobots, prepare to...." he began, but then stopped, and looked down at his comrades and the kids.

"Roll out?" Arcee asked with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

"Remain here." Optimus replied, throwing confusion at the others. Rani guessed that this command was somewhat new to them, and that usually, their leader told them to roll out. "Ratchet, come with me. Arcee, we'll be outside of communications for some time. So, I'm putting you in charge." 

"Dude, you're biggest!" Miko told the green Autobot. "You should be the boss!"

"Ehh, he never picks me." the Autobot told her with a shake of his head, not sounding at all displeased with that fact.

"Optimus, with all due respect...." Arcee told her leader, stopping him in his tracks to look down at her. "Being bodyguard is one thing, playing 'babysitter' is another. Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war!" 

"My distance may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!" Ratchet told her with a frown, having overheard what she said about him. 

Optimus looked back down at Arcee. "For the moment, it's only reconnaissance." he told her, his tone sounding deadly serious.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" the motorcycle Autobot argued.

"Arcee, much has changed in the last 24 hours." her leader replied. "And we all need to adapt." He turned to face the tunnel. "Ratchet? Bridge us out." The medical officer pulled down a lever, and Rani could hear something begin to rev up. In seconds, cyan-blue circular hoops appeared in the tunnel, and began to glow, brightly, along with the ground and walls! Rani watched in surprise as Optimus and Ratchet disappeared into whatever this thing was. Once they were gone, the glowing stopped and the hoops disappeared.

Jack's sigh brought her back to reality. "Ok, chief! So uh...what's on the activities list?" he asked Arcee.

Arcee let out a tired sigh. "I'm going on patrol." she said, and began walking toward the tunnel.

"But Optimus told us to stay!" the green and bulky Autobot protested.

Arcee looked up at him. "When you're in charge, you call the shots." she told him. "Bee, with me!"

Bumblebee shared a look with Rafael before making sounds of disappointment and following her. 

"Bulkhead...you're in charge." Arcee told the big guy. Together, she and Bumblebee transformed into their vehicle modes, and left the base.

Rani sighed at what she had just witnessed. She was already feeling bored. She wasn't that much of a tv person, and she just got through with a nap. She supposed she could take another one while listening to her music...but even that was boring. Part of her started to wish she could have gone with Optimus and Ratchet...wherever they had gone.

"So, uh...what's on the activities list?" Bulkhead asked, repeating Jack's question to Arcee, and shrugged. Rani wondered if this was the first time he had to look after kids...humans in particular. A loud screeching was suddenly heard as Miko fiddled around with a speaker, her guitar being hooked up to it. The screeching caused everyone but her to cringe and cover their ears. Well, almost everyone...Rani didn't, but she did become very irritated with the noise. Music sounded like a bad idea, now...and, she was getting a headache.

Once the fiddling was over with, Miko said, "How about...band practice!"

"But, we're not a band...." Rafael told her.

"Why so anti-social? C'mon, Raf...do you play anything?" the multi-colored hair girl asked the kid.

"I...play keyboard!" he tried, and held up a laptop that he had pulled out of his backpack.

"Laptop as symbols! Good!" Miko replied, and looked over at the teenage boy. "Jack?"

"I, uhh...sometimes mess around on the harmonica." he told her, nervously rubbing the back of his head. 

"Do I look like I do country?" Miko asked him with a disapproving look. "Just...cover yourself in fake blood, and jump around, screaming." Then, she turned to the only Autobot in the room. "Bulkhead, percution! We'll go for a big industrial sound." And then, she looked up at Rani. "What about you? Do you play anything?" 

Rani had enough of a headache. She didn't need any louder noise. She looked sideways at the group, then shook her head and walked back to the couch. The tv was still on, but she didn't bother turning it off. She simply laid down on the couch, using her bag as a pillow.

Miko shrugged, not minding Rani's aloofness. "DIY, we're a band!" she exclaimed. "You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballad." She then began strumming her electric guitar, throwing in some rockstar kicks as she played. The noise blasted through the speakers, and in great annoyance, Rani grabbed her lime-green-and-silver Motorola mp3-player and placed her over-the-ear earbuds around her ears. She then began listening to Avril Lavigne's "Under My Skin" album. She turned the volume up loud enough to drown out Miko's guitar-slamming, but not loud enough to blast her eardrums out. She shut her eyes in relaxation to Avril's voice. 

After several seconds, though, something began flashing through her eyelids. With a frown, she paused her music, and unhooked one earbud. An alarm was going off!

"My ears....!" Rafael complained.

"Proximity sensor!" Bulkhead exclaimed. "Quick, hide!" Rafael, Miko, and Jack quickly hid behind his leg. The Autobot took notice of Rani. "You, too!" 

Not knowing what was happening, but in no mood to argue, Rani quickly shut off the tv, and hid out of sight in between said tv and the sofa. She listened as a door slid open, and an angry voice snapped, "Prime!!!"

"A-Agent Fowler!" Bulkhead exclaimed. "Uh, he's not here. Nobody is! Except me, of course." He gave off a nervous chuckle.

"Well, where did he go?" the human, Agent Fowler, said. "Wait, don't tell me. He's out pancaking a mini-mall." Rani heard the man began to descend down the stairs. "Now, I don't know what language you bots speak on your planet, but Prime _promised_ he would handle the Decepticons!" 

Rani frowned...was this the agent she heard Ratchet mention, a few times? It would make sense if this guy knew about the Decepticons. Why did he have to sound like such a jerk, though? 

"And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word 'handle' means in English! So, you tell Prime...." the agent continued, but then stopped when he heard Miko's guitar going off. Rani had a feeling the girl wasn't doing that on purpose.... "Since when are you bots electric?" 

Rani frowned in confusion. What sort of question was that?! They were _robots_! Of course, they were electric! They practically ran on electricity! And other things, too, that she could only assume. She was growing more irritated with this agent by the minute. Just who did he think he was?!

"Hey! How're you doing?" Jack's voice asked, making Rani wince. She could understand if they didn't have a choice but to come out of hiding. She planned on staying hidden...there was enough trouble brewing as it was. 

"Contact with civilians!" Agent Fowler said with an angry huff. "Team Prime has really gone off the boat, this time. Wait, don't tell me. You're running a daycare center."

Rani wanted to knock this guy's lights out. If he was allowed to have any contact with the Autobots, shouldn't he realize the actual situation instead of being sarcastic about it?

"We're interns!" Jack told him, probably lying through his teeth but also trying to defend Bulkhead, who seemed to be at a loss for words. 

"Student interns!" Rafael added.

"Earning extra credit in...auto-shop!" Jack said, at the same time as Miko said "Robotics". Rani facepalmed...none of this was making anything better. 

"Ok...let's move." Agent Fowler said. This time, he sounded like he was trying to stay calm about this situation. "I'm taking all three of you to federal custody. It's for your own protection." 

Rani was about to jump up and try to defend the teenagers, herself. But then, Bulkhead's footstep stopped her, and she continued to hide.

"We're protecting them." the Autobot old the agent, sounding angry.

"Is that so?" Agent Fowler challenged. "Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon!" Rani heard him grab a phone, then.

"Don't use that phone! It's...." Bulkhead said. "Out of order."

"This isn't over, Bigfoot!" Agent Fowler exclaimed. "Not by a long shot!" He walked back up the stairs, and headed into the elevator. 

Once he was gone, Bulkhead let out a sigh. Rani stood up, and stepped around the sofa to go over to the railing. "Well! That was...interesting." she said, sarcastically. The teenagers and Autobot looked up at her with raised eyebrows. Then, the three teenagers put away the speakers, and Miko put away her guitar...which, Rani mentally thanked for. The eldest teen slipped her mp3-player into her pocket, and stretched. She then descended the stairs, and leaned against the nearest wall, crossing her arms in the process.

Rafael, feeling curious about the new girl, walked over to her. "H-Hi!" he said with a friendly wave. "So...I get that you're a quiet person. But, why don't we talk, for a bit? Uh...what do you like to do for fun?" He was trying to be respectful, and not wind up annoying her. 

Rani thought, for a minute. "Not much, really." she replied, calmly. "Other than watch sunsets and listen to music. Not really sure if those would be considered 'fun', though."

Rafael was actually surprised that she had responded. He was honestly expecting her not to answer.... "Oh! Well, that's cool!" he told her. "I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to electronics.... So, what do you think of the Autobots? Pretty cool, eh?"

"It's...certainly different, that's for sure." she replied. Until last night, she never imagined that aliens...robotic ones, at that...could ever exist! So, admittedly, she did think it was pretty cool. As someone who wasn't really used to expressing much emotion, she didn't know what else to say or feel about it.

Rafael could tell that Rani was not used to being social. Which was just fine in his book! Not everyone was as extroverted as he, Miko, and Jack were. He liked Rani, though...he liked how quiet she was, and wasn't bothered by her aloof and moody behavior. And, he had to admit, her style of clothing did look pretty cool!

"I can't believe Optimus Prime, himself, was the one who saved you, yesterday!" he told her with a kind smile. "He's like, the big boss of the Autobots, here...and, from what we've seen, Bumblebee and the others totally respect him."

"Is he that amazing?" Rani asked with a raised eyebrow. She thought about earlier, and last night. Compared to the other Autobots, Optimus must be the calmest one out of all of them. 

Suddenly, the alarm went off, again! Only this time, it was louder!

Bulkhead looked up at a large screen with a frown. "It's an SOS....!" he said, and the teenagers looked up to see the screen. "From Fowler!" He tried tapping on a monitor that was in front of him. Whatever he did, he seemed to have made the alarms stop.

"Can you trace it?" Rafael asked as he and Rani stepped up, and Rani placed a hand on her hip. 

Bulkhead looked unhappy. "Location scan was incomplete." he replied. He then shrugged. "Oh, well!"

"Oh, well?!" Jack exclaimed in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Fowler's a jerk!" the Autobot replied. 

"Uh, whoa! Even if you don't like the guy, the Decepticons may have him!" the teen boy told him.

"And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Rafael added, and became fearful. "Our location...."

Rani blinked in realization. _That's right! This place is supposed to be secret!_ she thought, and looked up at Bulkhead.

"And did we not just witness how fast the guy backed off from a bot?" Miko said, and put her hands on her hips. "The Cons will totally make him squeal!"

"But we lost the transmission!" Bulkhead told them. "Fowler could be anywhere!"

Rafael sat down and pulled out his laptop, opening it up. "Maybe I can narrow it down." he said, and began typing away. "About five years ago, the government started microchipping their agents...you know, like owners do with pets!" Jack, Miko, Bulkhead, and Rani looked down at him in surprise. He noticed.... "What? I saw it on tv! Anyway, if I can hack into the Fed's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates!"

"You know how to hack?" Miko asked him in disbelief. "But you're like, 2-years old!" Rani rolled her eyes at the exaggeration.

"12." Rafael corrected. "And a quarter." He gave the older teenagers a smirk. Meanwhile, Rani was rather impressed that a 12-year old kid could hack into something as important as the big-league cops! Just where did this kid learn how to do that...let alone, hack? 

The kid typed away as quickly as he could. "Latitude, 39.5. Longitude, 116.9." he informed Bulkhead as Autobot tapped in the coordinates. 

Then, Bulkhead pulled the lever that Ratchet had pulled, earlier. In seconds, the glowing hoop bridge from before appeared. "Ok, wait here." he told the teenagers as he headed into the bridge. 

"Aww! Don't break up the band!" Miko whined, causing Rani to roll her eyes. 

"Uh...Jack, you're in charge!" the Autobot told the teen boy, then ran and disappeared into the glowing light.

Once he was gone, Jack sighed. "Welp! I guess we four have the run of the place!" he said. He looked over at Rani. "But...why didn't he leave you in charge?"

Rani shrugged, her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall. "Probably because he doesn't know how old I am." she replied, her face expressionless. "And, because I'm still very new to this place and you all."

"We have been around here longer than she has...." Rafael said to Jack in agreement. Then, he nervously asked her, "Uh...how old are you...exactly?"

Rani didn't mind the question. "17." she replied. The two looked at her in shock. "....Why are you two staring at me like I'm about to rip your faces off?" 

"Uh, it's just...well...." Jack stammered, nervously.

"We...were honestly thinking you were...like, Miko's age...." Rafael added, equally as nervous. "Which is, 15."

Rani sighed. _My damn height and childish looks._ she mentally swore.

"Speaking of...." Jack said, and looked around. "Where _is_ Miko?" Both boys and Rani looked around for the rocker girl. "Miko? ....Miko?!" 

Jack and Rafael rushed up the staircase to look around from there. But there was no sign or sound of Miko, anywhere! Rani let out a sigh. As the oldest, she should be in charge of the three of them when the Autobots weren't around. Miko must be one sneaky girl, because Rani never caught sight of her disappearing. 

This was really becoming a long day for her....


	4. Chapter IV: Rescue Mission

Rani leaned her head back against the wall as the boys continued their search for their friend. Unfortunately, she just wasn't anywhere in the base. The boys looked over at the tunnel with cringed looks.

"What should we do?" Rafael asked, worriedly. "Bulkhead may not have realized that she followed him!" 

_Of course...._ Rani thought with her eyes closed. _That has to be the only explanation for her disappearance. I guess she just wanted a little adventure._

"Miko hasn't seen the Cons and Autobots in action like we have." Jack said with realization. "She has no idea....!"

"Those are the coordinates...." Rafael said as he looked and typed on a monitor. "The location is still locked in!" He gave Jack another worried look.

Jack tried to think of what to do. "Uh...you're in charge." he told him. 

"In charge of who?" Rafael asked. He typed something up, and then, the lever that summoned the glowing bridge-like portal appeared. He then began to follow Jack, before stopping to look over at Rani. "....Are you coming with?" he asked her.

Rani shook her head. She was already annoyed with Miko's actions. Besides, someone needed to stay behind to look after the place until Optimus or the other Autobots came back.

Rafael shrugged, and quickly caught up to Jack. Both boys disappeared, and Rani was left, alone, at the base.

The eldest teenager sighed with relief. "Finally, some gosh-damn peace." she muttered, and began making her way up the stairs. But then, halfway up, guilt dropped down onto her about just letting the younger teens go without any sort of protection, and she stopped walking. She then rubbed her temples.

_C'mon, Rani. You're supposed to be the one in charge when none of the Autobots are around._ she thought, then her eyes snapped open with realization and fear. _If Optimus or even Arcee knew about this, they'd probably have my head for letting those kids go off after Bulkhead and Agent Fowler! What were you thinking, Rani?! Aren't you a part-time babysitter? You know better than this, you idiot! Get those three before they get themselves killed!_

Rani knew nothing about the Decepticons, other than the fact that they were dangerous and didn't take too kindly to humans like the Autobots did. If she went out there, she would be in just as much danger.... She frowned with determination. _For those three? It'll be worth it, no matter how annoying one of them is!_

So, she rushed up to grab her bag. Then, knowing that the coordinates were still locked in, she threw her bag onto the lever, it's weight bringing the thing down, and summoning the bridge. Rani rushed in without hesitation. In seconds, she jumped out of the portal, finding herself in a rocky area. 

"Whoa...." she said. Her legs felt like jelly, and her head felt like it was spinning! She collapsed onto the ground, feeling nausea rising inside of her. She couldn't remember the last time she felt sick in any way.... Going through that portal was the opposite of fun! "Welp! I guess it only works extremely well for giant robots....!" she exclaimed with her hand covering her mouth. Thankfully, the nausea wasn't enough to make her lose her brunch. 

She looked up, and let her hand fall from her mouth as she stared in awe. In front of her, only a couple feet away, was a large and dark-colored space-ship! And patrolling outside and on top of the ship were a few deep-purple, red-eyed robots...and they had guns for hands! Ignoring her nausea, Rani jumped up and dashed behind a boulder in order to stay out of sight. She peered around the boulder, nervously. How in the world was she going to get into that ship without being noticed? Were Jack, Miko, and Rafael already in there? What about Bulkhead and Agent Fowler?

"Psst! Rani!" a voice called over in a whisper. Blinking in confusion, the girl looked over to her right, her back pressed against the boulder. She saw Jack and Rafael hiding behind another boulder, and trying to wave her over. But Rani was nervous, and did not want to risk getting caught. So, she shook her head, and motioned for them to just stay where they were. But unfortunately, that plan was a bust because right behind the boys was a couple of Decepticons, who spotted them and grabbed them before they had a chance to run away! Rani immediately moved out of sight, but she regretted not thinking of going over there and grabbing the boys, herself, to get them away from the area. She watched with a frown as the Decepticon...soldiers?...headed toward the ship, one of them holding the boys in a grip. 

Rani was not about to lose sight of Jack and Rafael. As stealthily as she could, she followed the soldiers into the ship. If she was being honest, the inside of the ship kind of intimidated her...it was large, and obviously throwing off negative and dark vibes. She made sure no other Decepticon soldier was going to spot her before continuing to follow the ones who were holding Jack and Rafael captive.

After a while of following, Rani heard the Decepticon soldiers talking. "Take them to the brig." one of them said to the other. "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human, there." 

_Commander Starscream? Who the hell is he?_ Rani wondered as she continued to stealthily follow the soldiers. _And the other human...are they talking about Agent Fowler?!_

The teen girl raised an eyebrow as she was about to cross the way behind the soldiers, hearing what sounded like the engine of a car! She peeked around the corner in curiosity...and immediately pressed herself into the wall as suddenly, both soldiers were knocked completely off their feet by a yellow Camaro! A millisecond later, Arcee transformed from her motorcycle mode, and caught Jack and Rafael with ease. Seeing that the Decepticons seemed to be KO-ed, Rani came out of her hiding spot. 

"Appreciate you leaving the door open for us." Arcee told the boys. "But storming a Decepticon airship was not on the activities list."

"Tell me about it!" Jack replied with a relieved smile. Bumblebee made sounds of approval.

Then, Rafael spotted the older teen girl. "Rani!" he exclaimed with a grin. Surprised, Arcee and Bumblebee turned to look down at her. Rani gave them a nervous smile.

"You're here, too?!" Arcee asked with a frown. 

"Hey, I was planning on trying to get them as far away from here as possible!" Rani told her in defense. "It's not their fault or mine that this happened!" 

"Hey! Can we discuss this, later?" Jack said, grabbing everyone's attention. "Fowler and Miko are still in danger!" Arcee and Rani gave each other looks of disapproval, but nodded in agreement.

Together, the five of them took off down the halls of the ship in search for the brig, where Fowler was being kept. Then, around the corner.... 

"Friendly!" Arcee called out, aiming her gun at someone before lowering it.

"Hello!" Bulkhead's voice exclaimed.

"Brought the humans, huh?" the motorcycle Autobot asked him.

"You try getting them to stay behind!" the green Autobot protested, causing _Miko_ to give him a look. 

"We need to find Fowler, and get these kids out of here." Arcee told him, and he nodded in agreement. 

Just then, Decepticon soldiers appeared, and started firing their weapons! The Autobots fired back while doing their hardest to keep the teenagers safe. The loud noise from the firing of blasters, and the battle between good and evil raged as Rani and the others stood in the middle of it all. Ran watched all around her as her ears rang from all the shooting and clanging, her eyes wide with fear and awe as a memory flooded into her: her mother.

Rani felt numb as the memory played out in her mind. Jack, having seen how frozen she was, quickly wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her out of the way of a falling Decepticon head! 

"Rani! Snap out of it!" he tried telling her while grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. But it was as if she couldn't.... "Ooh, we have a problem." He winced. The look on Rani's face was a mixture of shock, pain, and fear. He had a feeling she was reliving something, but there was no time for that! 

Once the soldiers were taken down, Jack called up to the motorcycle Autobot. "Arcee! Rani won't move!" Arcee looked down in surprise, and scooped up the teen girl in her hands. 

"Let's go!" she told everyone, and Bulkhead lead the way. "Come on, kid...what is with you?!" But there was no response, and Arcee grew worried at the mixed expression on Rani's face.

The group of Autobots and humans ran until they reached the control room. Arcee gently set Rani down near the other teenagers, then busted into the room, helping her comrades take down any Decepticon soldier that was inside.

Arcee then put her guns away, and smiled down at the humans. "Clear." she told them. "Now, wait here." Bumblebee seemed to object to that. "They're slowing us down, and are easy targets. They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put."

"Rani, c'mon!" Rafael's voice exclaimed, causing everyone to look down at him. He was shaking the oldest teen by her shoulders. He looked up at them with great worry. "I don't know what's wrong with her...she won't snap out of it!" Rani was still having the same mixed look on her face, staring into space with her eyes clouded. 

"I think she's reliving a memory...." Jack said, feeling worried, as well. "The fighting, out there...it must've triggered it, somehow!"

"Ok." Miko said, and cracked her knuckles, and got into a fighting stance, her fists clenched.

"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?!" Jack asked her in surprise.

"Snapping her out of it. She'll thank me, later." Miko replied. "Sorry, new girl!" She then gave Rani a quick and harsh punch against her cheek! 

Rani collapsed onto her side, and shook her in a daze. She realized where she was, and why she was there...she let out a gasp of surprise, and looked up at the Autobots. "S-Sorry!" she exclaimed. "That was really bad timing...."

"Are you ok?" Arcee asked her. "You were really spaced out, there."

Rani looked down in shame. "I.... Yeah, I'm fine...." she replied, and hugged her knees close. Arcee felt bad for her...but, as curious as she was to know about the human girl's past, there was just simply no time.

The Autobots then exited the room, giving Rani one last look of concern before leaving to find Agent Fowler.

Jack kneeled down in front of Rani. "Hey...I know you're not ok." he told her, calmly and softly. "You don't have to tell us what happened or why...just don't worry. Ok?" Rani looked up at him. "We're going to get out of here...get you back to the base." She nodded. 

"Well! That...was intense!" Miko exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"Was?!" Rafael told her.

"You know, it's your fault we're in this intensity, in the first place!" Jack added with an angry frown. "What were you thinking, Miko?!"

"Did I ask you two to follow me?" Miko replied, sarcastically, but equally as angry.

"You wanted us to be a band!" he argued. "Doesn't that usually mean 'playing together'?"

"Well maybe, I decided to go solo!" Miko argued back. 

"Well _maybe_ , I have some regard for your safety!"

"Oh! I'm sorry, is your name 'Optimus'? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you!"

"Look! Stop it, both of you!" Rafael shouted in exasperation, and ran forward before sitting down on the floor and hugging his knees. Rani did not blame him...it was enough that she had a flashback in the middle of battle, the bickering between Jack and Miko were giving her a headache! 

The oldest teen girl stood up with a tired sigh, and went over to him. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Next time, I'm just going to whack them both over their heads." she muttered under her breath. She sauntered away as Miko and Jack came up to sit beside Rafael. 

"Whoa, hey, Raf...it's ok...." Jack told him.

"Yeah! We're gonna be fine!" Miko added. 

"Our bots will come back for us." Jack said. 

"Yeah! They're gonna take us home!" Miko chimed in.

"How do you know?" Rafael muttered, unhappily. 

Rani looked over at the small group, and sighed. Miko sneaking off, the panic, and the battle they were just in the middle of...it was all beginning to take a toll on the poor kid. She could understand, completely. _This is war between the Autobots and the Decepticons...._ she thought. _Of course, things are going to get chaotic. No place for a kid, that's for sure...._

Jack looked over at Rani...she seemed so lost in thought as she took in her surroundings with her hands on her hips. Besides what happened, not too long ago, he could tell how mature she was trying to be about this whole situation. She didn't seem to be panicking, she no longer looked afraid...she had basically gone back to her usual quiet and aloof self. He admired her for that. She was the complete opposite of Miko, as far as he could tell. 

Then, he noticed something on a large screen in the room, and asked, "Hey, Raf...what do you make of that?"


	5. Chapter V: Memories

Rani looked over at the teenagers just as Rafael stood up and got down to the lower floor. She quickly followed him, with Jack and Miko right behind. The group of four looked up at a large screen, which was showing what looked like some sort of formula. Rani was never good at science...or math and chemistry, for that matter. Her subject was more history than anything else school-related. 

"It's important!" Rafael said, answering Jack's question from a minute ago. "Real important.... We gotta get this to Optimus!"

"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko asked, sarcastically.

"I know math when I see it." the shorter boy replied. "That is one serious equation....!"

"Well, can you...download it?" Jack asked with uncertainty.

Rafael pulled off his backpack, and took something out if it. "I have a flash-drive! But, I don't see anywhere to plug it in...this tech is way alien!" 

Just then, Rani looked up near where the room's door was...and her eyes widened in fear! A Decepticon soldier had just walked in! Jack, Miko, and Rafael noticed, as well, and all four teenagers hurried to hide from view. But Rafael noticed that he had left his backpack behind, so he went back to get it. Unfortunately, his presence and the sound of him putting his backpack on brought the Decepticon's attention! The soldier drew his gun, and aimed it at the kid!

Jack immediately dashed forward, and saved Rafael just in time as the Decepticon fired at him! The boys managed to get to safety before Jack yelled over to the girls, "Miko! Take a picture!"

"Great idea!" Miko exclaimed, and snapped a picture...of the Decepticon soldier, which got his attention. Rani facepalmed, knowing that Jack had meant the formula.

"Not of that!" the teenage boy exclaimed, and pointed up at the monitor. "That!" 

"Oooh...." Miko said, and quickly snapped a photo of the formula. 

Rani grabbed Miko by the arm, and the group of four ran out of the room with the soldier shooting after them. Thankfully, he missed them and shot down the door, allowing the teenagers to escape and run down the hall. "Go, go, go!!!" Jack yelled.

A loud honk sounded, just then, and the teenagers skidded to a halt as a green vehicle sped into view, lights blaring! The car transformed into Bulkhead, and the Autobot tackled the Decepticon, throwing him down, a couple of times before transforming back into vehicle mode. Meanwhile, Bumblebee and Arcee had pulled up!

"I told you to stay put!" the female Autobot told them, sounding annoyed. 

Rani frowned at her. "Excuse us, but that Decepticon found us in that room, and nearly killed us!" she snapped back, and then quickly climbed into Bulkhead's front seat. She held on, tight, to the handle above the driver's side door's window as Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee sped out of the ship.

"Did you find Fowler? Is he ok?!" the eldest teen girl asked, worriedly.

"Yeah, he's fine." Bulkhead replied. "He might be feeling a little screwy in the head, no thanks to whatever method Starscream used on him...but he's fine, otherwise." Rani let out a giant sigh of relief.

The three vehicles sped out of the ship, and headed in the direction back to the base.

"Can't we bridge back?" Rani asked.

"Not without Ratchet or somebody else being there." Bulkhead replied. "And as far as we know, Ratchet and Optimus are still out, somewhere. We're just gonna have to make it back the long way."

Rani nodded in understanding.

Later, everybody was back at the base. Agent Fowler was currently resting on a gurnee, being looked after by Miko, Rafael, and Jack. Optimus was tending to some injuries on Ratchet's arm...both Autobots were battered from head-to-toe, but Ratchet seemed to have gotten it the worst. Rani was leaning against a nearby wall with her arms crossed, also looking after the agent.

Miko turned to Ratchet. "What happened to you guys, anyway?" she asked, worriedly.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors." the medic replied, solemnly.

"Zombies? You fought zombies, and I missed it?!" Miko exclaimed in disappointment. Rani frowned at the girl before quickly moving away from the wall, and going down the stairs. 

"Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you." Optimus told the green Autobot.

"It won't happen, again, Optimus." Bulkhead told him. "I promise."

"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault!" Miko protested. "And check it out...." She flipped open her phone to reveal the picture of the formula, and showed it to Optimus. "Recon!" 

The tall Autobot hummed as he studied the picture. "Ratchet, have a look." he said to the medic. "It could be of importance to Megatron."

"Whoa, Megatron's back?" Jack asked, worriedly. "That's really bad news! Right?"

Ratchet leaned forward to get a closer look at Miko's phone. "I do not understand...." he said. 

Miko checked her phone. "Oops...that's the Con who tried to blow Raf away." she told him. "At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!" She grinned up at the two concerned Autobots.

"Miko, Raf was almost _killed_!" Jack yelled at her, angrily. "This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through that thick skull?!" 

"Uhm, we were _all_ almost killed, Jack." Miko told him with an irritated frown. "You, me, Raf, even them!" She pointed to Optimus and Ratchet. "And even Rani! Whom, by the way, had an episode on that ship!"

At this news, Optimus raised an eyebrow, and looked down at the eldest teen girl. Rani gave Miko an unhappy look, and tsked before quickly leaving the room through the tunnel at a run.

Rani knew that what had happened to her on the Decepticon ship was very badly timed, and she had hoped that those episodes had stopped, years ago. And because all of that shooting had triggered a memory of hers, she was nearly killed due to being unable to move a muscle! She prayed that this time was the very last time it ever happened....

Back in the base, Jack had left the team because he was worried for his friends' safety and his own. Meanwhile, Miko was regretting ever opening her mouth about what had happened to Rani.

"Oh, no....!" she groaned, sitting down on the floor and pulling her knees up to her chest. "I just had to open my big mouth about Rani, didn't I?"

"I-I'm sure she's ok!" Rafael said, trying to reassure his friend. "She just...probably needs some time to herself...." The sounds of transformation brought his attention to Optimus, who was now in vehicle mode and leaving through the tunnel. "Where is he going?" the short teenager asked.

"Most likely going after Rani." Arcee replied with a sigh. Bumblebee made sounds of agreement.

"Poor kid." Bulkhead said, sadly. "I bet she wasn't expecting what had happened to happen, at all...."

Arcee looked over at Rafael. "How long have you three known her?" she asked, curiously.

"Not very long, actually...." he replied. "I mean, we see her around school, but that's about it. We've never really spoken to her until today. So...we really don't know much about her." 

Arcee looked over at the tunnel, thoughtfully.

As night fell, Optimus slowed his roll as he continued his search for Rani. He felt rather concerned about her...and now, he questioned her family situation even more. However, he feared his theory on them was more true than he had previously believed.

Finally, the lead Autobot found the girl sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking out at the sliver of sunset that was slowly disappearing. Slowly, he pulled up, and stopped a foot away from her.

"....Rani." he said, his tone calm and full of concern. Rani looked over her shoulder to see the large blue-and-red semi.

Even in the dim light, Optimus could see that she had been crying.

A while later, Optimus pulled into the base, honking his horn to let the others know who had come in. Rani hopped out, gently shutting the door behind her. The Autobots watched her as she ascended the stairs, and laid down on the couch. She put her earbuds on, and began listening to her mp3-player.

Meanwhile, Optimus had transformed back into his normal self, and walked up to Ratchet. "We need to discuss a private matter." he told him, his tone forever calm but firm...and deadly serious. "Now." 

The medical officer, although surprised at Optimus' tone, stopped what he was doing...and followed his comrade out of the main room.

Arcee, being the only other Autobot left, looked over at where Rani was. Questions began to fill her head, some of them being suspicious ones, about the human girl. While Arcee did not feel quite as suspicious of Rani as Ratchet was, she felt suspicious enough to want to know why today's episode happened. 

Rani wasn't quite asleep. But, she was drowning out her music as her talk with Optimus replayed in her mind. "It wasn't supposed to happen, Optimus." she had told him. "In fact, an episode like this hasn't happened in a very long time. Why it happened, today, is beyond me. But I wish it hadn't.... It was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. If anything, it could've waited until after we had gotten out of that ship! But it didn't.... Now, I have no idea if it will ever happen, again."

"What was your memory of?" Optimus had asked her.

She was hesitant to answer. "....My mother...." she had replied. "Fighting a battle in Afghanistan. She had no idea I had followed her, back then. Can you imagine? 6-year old me, watching a horrible war from deep within the shadows...I saw so many soldiers die, that day...saw my mother nearly get killed. If only she could've been able to stop what had come to her, afterwards, when I followed her back home...."

Rani quickly shifted onto her side while covering her ears. Tears began to streak down across the bridge of her nose as the memories of hearing gunfire and shouting filled her ears.

"I was thankful not to have lost her in that battle, that day...." Rani had told Optimus on the cliff. "I will never understand why us humans continue to go into war to this day. And over what? If it's not money or religion, it's freedom. Or, the other way around...or maybe, reasons far worse than any of those things. What is the point? Why can't we all just get along without killing each other? And, why did my mother have to be involved in any of it?"

"Your mother was a very brave soldier, who fought for her kind...." Optimus had told her. "She had fought for you and your brother." Rani's eyes had begun to well with tears, and her bottom lip had begun to tremble.

"....But it wasn't enough...." her own voice echoed in her mind as her present self stared at the back of the couch. "It wasn't enough for _him_.... At least, that's what I always thought. Now, I'm not so sure...." She closed her eyes, and tried to will away the tears and horrible memories of her past.

"Rani...." a muffled voice said, snapping her out of it. She lowered her hands, and hit 'pause' on her mp3-player before sitting up. Ratchet was giving her a look that she had never seen on him, before, since she first met him: apologetic and sorrow. "I...apologize, for the way I've been acting towards you. I...had no idea...."

Rani stared at him in surprise, for a minute. Then, she nodded, accepting his apology. 

Optimus walked up, just then. His face filled with concern when he noticed that the human girl had been crying, again. "Try and get some rest, now." he told her, gently. 

She nodded, and laid back down. She resumed her playlist, and shut her eyes, again. She fell asleep with ease, and seeing this Optimus relaxed.

"Is someone going to fill me in on why Ratchet is apologizing?" Arcee asked with a raised brow, trying to keep her voice's volume low.

The lead Autobot looked over at her. "Perhaps another time, Arcee." he told her. "Right now, let's allow Rani to rest in peace." He then exited the room, leaving a confused Arcee.

"Is it just me, or has Optimus been keeping secrets from us, today?" she asked Ratchet, who's only response was a shrug as he refocused back on his work.

Arcee sighed, annoyed that she wasn't getting much of an answer. Irritated, she transformed into her vehicle mode, and left the base.

"Optimus!" Ratchet's voice exclaimed, startling Rani awake and causing her to fall off the couch. "These are engineering specs to a space time-vortex generator." Rani sat up, groggily, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She hit the pause button on Linkin Park's "New Divide" song, and unhooked her left earbud before standing up.

"Space time what?" she asked, tiredly, as she leaned forward onto the railing on her arms.

"Megatron is building a space-bridge." Optimus replied, solemnly. "If he hasn't, already...."

"That's...bad. Isn't it?" Rani asked, worriedly. 

"The sooner he leaves, the better!" Bulkhead said as he, Bumblebee, and Arcee walked up.

Optimus turned to his team. "Bulkhead, a space-bridge runs in two directions." he informed his comrade. "Megatron may not be using it to leave earth...but to bring through his conquering army."

"The undead Cybertronian warriors...." Rani muttered, remembering what Ratchet had told them all, earlier.

"The main event Megatron had referred to?" Ratchet said. "But, the only place he could bring in that many warriors...." His voice trailed off as he realized something in horror. 

Optimus nodded. "Precisely...." he said, gravely. "Cybertron." 


	6. Chapter VI: Tech War

"We cannot allow Megatron to send dark energon through his space bridge." Optimus had told his team. "If we fail, the dead of Cybertron will rise, swarm through it's vortex, and invade earth...bending humankind to Megatron's twisted rule."

Rani woke up, the next morning, with the lead Autobot's words in mind. _How are the Autobots supposed to stop Megatron from doing something as crazy as this?_ she wondered with a thoughtful frown. _And here, I thought the whole taking-over-the-world thing only happened in fictional stories._ She sat up on the couch, and rubbed the back of her neck. She decided she wanted to help. After all, earth was hers and all of humanity's planet! Megatron couldn't just take it over! What about Cybertron? Surely, he could go back there and do whatever he wanted over there!

She sighed, unhappily. Megatron sounded like he was the type of person...or, bot...who wouldn't do that. And things weren't that simple....

"Are you ok?" Bulkhead asked her, taking notice of the unhappy look on her face.

Rani nodded. "Yeah, I just.... I wish Megatron would go and take over his own planet." she replied with a sigh. "Why does it have to be earth?"

"Unfortunately, he's selfish like that." the green Autobot replied. "Nobody really knows his true intentions. He can be unpredictable, sometimes." 

Rani stood up from the couch, and stretched. "Well, if he's going to try and take over our planet, I wanna help stop him." she said. 

Bulkhead looked very unsure. "Uh...I don't think Optimus would really like that idea...." he told her. 

"Like what idea?" Optimus, himself, asked as he walked up. 

"Uh...Rani wants to help fight for earth." Bulkhead replied, nervously.

Optimus gave the teen girl a worried look, but before he could say anything, Ratchet spoke up. "Optimus, I have pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge." the medical officer said. "High in earth's orbit...."

"Out of our reach." the tall Autobot finished, looking grim about the whole thing. 

"Ok, so you guys don't fly...." Miko, who had come back to the base with Bulkhead, said. "But, can't you just ground-bridge there?" 

Ratchet gave a disapproving look. "A ground-bridge has limited range." he told her. "Stretched out into orbit, it could snap...and scatter us to the stars." 

"Since Megatron is most likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk." Optimus said, and turned to the tunnel with a determined frown. "Reaching that space bridge, first, is our only means of stopping him."

Just then, a blue motorcycle came in, with Jack on it's back. "Hey! Guess who's back!" he said as dismounted, allowing Arcee to transform into her normal self.

"Autobots, prepare for departure!" Optimus said.

"Where to?" Arcee asked him.

"The final frontier!" Miko told her. 

"Whoa...space?" Jack asked. "I thought they didn't have any way to get there...."

"They don't, really...." Rafael, who had been sitting on Bumblebee's shoulder this whole time, said. Bumblebee lowered him to the ground. 

Jack looked up at Arcee. "I'll be seeing you?" he asked, and she replied with a kind smile. 

Ratchet pulled down the lever that summoned the ground-bridge as the Autobots prepared to leave. 

"I'm so jealous!" Miko exclaimed with a smile.

"Don't even think about following me." Bulkhead told her.

"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet heaping with humans, I will never forgive you." Ratchet told his leader.

"Until we meet again, old friend." Optimus replied with a farewell nod.

"Optimus!" Rani exclaimed, causing the lead Autobot to look back at her. The eldest teen girl lowered her hand, and gave him a worried look. "Be careful...please?" As much as she would like to go to space or help out, she had no idea what she could possibly do...and, she didn't own a space-suit. 

Optimus gave her a nod, a touched smile behind his mouth-guard. Then, he looked back at the ground-bridge. "Autobots, roll out!" he exclaimed. 

Rani received chills as he and his team transformed into their vehicle modes, and disappeared into the ground-bridge.

"Ugh! I wish I could go into space!" Miko exclaimed with a pout.

Rani leaned away from the railing, praying that the Autobots stayed safe and unharmed from Megatron and his forces. "Get over it, kid. It's not happening." she told the younger teen girl. 

Miko turned and put her hands on her hips as she looked up. "You may be older than the rest of us, but you are not our mother." she said with a frown.

Rani frowned back in great annoyance, and tsked. "I never said I was." she snapped. 

"Ok, ok....!" Rafael said, trying to keep the two girls from fighting. "Easy, you guys. There's more important things than bickering, right now."

"Yes, please!" Ratchet said with a roll of his eyes. "You can argue like children when this is all over." He then pulled up the life signs, voice-waves, and profile photos of the team on the large screen. 

Rani leaned forward onto the railing, again, her eyes glued to the screen.

After a few minutes, Arcee asked, "Well? What are they waiting for?"

There was a moment of silence. Then.... "It seems the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system." Optimus replied.

"Huh! That's my handiwork!" Bulkhead commented.

"Great job, Bulkhead." the Autobot leader praised. "Without the dish, Megatron will not be able to aim the space bridge at Cybertron."

"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?" Rafael asked. 

"Naturally." Ratchet scoffed. "But Cybertron is many light-years away. To reach their goal, their aim must be astronomically precise."

"If Megatron went through the travel of rendezvousing with his space bridge," Optimus mused. "He must have an alternate targeting system. A remote one."

"Hmph!" Ratchet huffed. "From what I know of earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio-telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"What about...a whole bunch of linked radio-telescope dishes?" Rafael asked, typing away at his laptop. "Like the giant sized array in Texas?"

"Shh! This is not child's play!" Ratchet scolded him, acting more like a strict parent than a medical officer in charge of alien technology. 

"Good thinking, Raf." Optimus said, taking Ratchet by surprise. "Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard."

"You, soldier! You in the uniform!" Agent Fowler exclaimed, still seeming completely dazed from being kidnapped, yesterday. "Put on some pants!" He then laid back down, passed out, again. 

"That may be a challenge." Ratchet told Optimus with a shake of his head.

"What a weirdo...." Rani muttered, giving Agent Fowler an odd look.

"I guess that's what happens when Decepticons interrogate people...or bots." Jack, who stood closest to her, said.

Rafael began speed-typing on his laptop with a determined look. "I can't get past the array's firewalls." he said. "They're too think!" He hit the table in frustration.

"You?" Ratchet scoffed. "You actually think you can keep the Decepticons out?" 

"Maybe...." the short teenager replied. " _If_ I can get in."

Rani shook her head in disbelief. "All of this tech talk is starting to hurt my brain." she muttered.

"W-wait, Raf...what if we could get you all the way in?" Jack asked. "Like, 'inside-the-building' in?"

"I could log into their intern network on the other side of the firewall!" Rafael said.

"The risk is too great!" Optimus told them. "The Decepticons would be there...perhaps even on sight."

"Optimus, with all due respect...." Jack replied. "You said it yourself, this is bigger than the safety of three humans."

"Yeah, if we let the 'Cons win, we are fried, along with everyone else on our planet!" Miko added.

"Raf?" Optimus asked, his tone somewhat worried.

Rafael gave the idea some thought. "I wanna give it a shot." he said with a smile.

Rani raised an eyebrow. "Alright...field trip!" she said as Ratchet locked in the coordinates for the teen's destination. "And this time, nothing school-related."

"You're coming with?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Duh! Somebody's gotta keep an eye on you three, and make sure no harm comes to any of you!" she told him and the others. "And if there's any security guards, I can knock them out." Jack, Miko, and Rafael gave her an odd look. "What? Are we not trying to save our planet, here?" 

"Man, you've got some guts!" Jack commented. He and the others hurried down the stairs and toward the ground-bridge. 

Rani rushed to catch up. "Security guards don't scare me!" she exclaimed. "And neither does knocking them out!" She disappeared, then, right behind the others. 

Together, the group of four hopped out of the portal. While the younger teens felt wobbly, Rani collapsed onto her hands and knees, her nausea rising! She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, hating the feeling of her stomach flipping all over the place. 

"I guess ground-bridging doesn't agree with some people." Rafael said with a wince.

"I'll be ok...." Rani said, feeling her blood run cold. "Just give me a minute.... You guys head on inside." The three nodded, and hurried into the building. She waited until her blood went back to normal, and the nausea was mostly gone. Then, she stood up, and jogged into the building. She found it odd that there didn't seem to be any security guards around....

Inside, she knocked on a door, waiting for any answer from the younger teens. The door opened, and Miko let her into a computer room. 

"I'm in!" Rafael exclaimed, then his face fell. "And so are the Decepticons."

"What?!" the eldest teen and Jack gasped in surprise and disbelief.

"How can you tell?" Miko asked with a frown.

"Schematics." the short teen replied, and began typing away. "With the same alien math we saw on their ship. But this time, I can download it." He plugged in his flash-drive with a smirk.

"It's gotta be the space bridge!" Miko said as everyone crowded around to watch Rafael at work.

"The Decepticons are syncing it to the dishes." Rafael said. "But I can sync in them."

"Would they know?" Rani asked.

"Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they have no idea I'm in the house." he replied. He frowned as something on the computer screen happened. A sphere that Rani supposed was to represent Cybertron turned red! "They're locked on to Cybertron, but not for long!" Rafael's fingers flew as he hacked the system. He succeeded...unfortunately, it didn't last, as the dishes outside of the building tilted back. Rafael frowned, again. "The dishes are heading back towards Cybertron!" His fingers flew across the keyboard. "I'll just undo that, again."

"What happens if the Cons realize they're being punked?" Jack asked.

"It's only virtual combat." the short teen replied. "You know, like online gaming!"

"Yeah, Jack!" Miko said with a smirk. "What are the 'Cons gonna do? They're probably like a thousand miles away." Rani frowned, immediately getting a sinking feeling....

Suddenly, Jack and Miko were thrown around the room...by a large and thick cable-like machine! "Jack! Miko!" Rani exclaimed in horror, before another cable came in, and knocked her against the wall! Seconds later, Jack and Miko were thrown against the same wall! Miko grabbed an ax that had been hanging on said wall, and she tried to attack with it. Unfortunately, the machine made her miss, and knocked her back by Jack and Rani. Rafael, meanwhile, was unable to continue his hacking. Flash-drive in hand, he quickly ran over to his friends. 

The cable-like machine picked up the ax that Miko had dropped, and left the room. The group of four hurriedly followed it, and looked up to see a dark-purple-and-black Decepticon! The bot looked back at them just as Miko whipped out her phone and snapped a picture. The Decepticon's visor turned into a camera, and seemed to snap a picture of the group, then transformed into a skinny jet-like aerial vehicle, and took off.

"Why did he leave?" Miko asked as Rafael went over to the ax, which had chopped a cable in half.

"He cut the hard-line...." he said in disappointment. "The dishes are locked on to Cybertron. For good." Rani shared looks of disappointment with Jack and Miko.

The eldest teenager then looked up at the sky, worried...but hoping that the Autobots would succeed in their mission. She hung her head with sadness...she felt so useless!

Jack saw the look on her face, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey...it's gonna be ok." he told her. She nodded, but he didn't feel convinced that she felt ok.

Back at the base, the teenagers and Ratchet listened as things went from bad to worse on the comms. Agent Fowler, meanwhile, had woken up...and while he still felt woozy, he seemed better than he had been, earlier. 

Then, Optimus said, "Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge. There's enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation. But we lack the firepower to ignite it."

"If I knew how the Space Bridge was engineered, I might find a tactical way of accomplishing that feat." Ratchet replied.

"Uhm...would schematics help?" Rafael asked, and held up his flash-drive. 

"Optimus, I must say...the Space Bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron." the medical officer told his leader. "Are you certain it's destruction is the only option?" 

"I am afraid so...." Optimus replied.

"Then, by all means, let us light our darkest hour." the medical officer said.

"Autobots, take your positions, and follow Ratchet's lead." the lead Autobot commanded his team. "While I make my stand."

"What does that mean?" Rani asked, worriedly. "Optimus? What exactly do you mean?"

"He is about to face Megatron." Ratchet told her. "That is what he means."

Rani looked up at the screen, great worry written all over her face. 


	7. Chapter VII: Doubt

Rani, the other humans, and Ratchet listened as a battle between Optimus and Megatron erupted. Everyone was also eyeing the large screen, nervously. Several groups of purple shapes showed up on the screen, and looked like they were drawing closer to what seemed to be the shape of the space bridge in front of Cybertron!

Rani rubbed her arms as she received chills...her planet being taken over by Megatron and an army of undead Cybertronian warriors did not sound like fun, at all!

Agent Fowler, who had noticed Rani but didn't bother questioning her, eyed the screen with worry. "Uh, these things are getting closer. That's bad, right?" he asked, turning to the medical officer.

"Ratcher, we're in position." Arcee's voice said.

"Arcee, pay close attention." Ratchet replied, before giving her and the other Autobots instructions on what to do with the space bridge. Meanwhile, Rafael was on his laptop, pulling up the schematics that he had downloaded, earlier. "Now, follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump. There should be a valve."

"I see it!" Arcee exclaimed.

"Good." Ratchet said. "To turn all that power against itself, all you need to do is reverse the current."

There was a moment before Arcee informed, "Current reversed."

"Yes!" Agent Fowler exclaimed, cheerfully, taking everyone by surprise. "....Right?" Rani raised an eyebrow. He had to still be a little loopy from before the Autobots rescued him....

"I'll ready the ground-bridge." the medical officer told her. 

Rani looked up at Optimus' life-line with worry. Was he coming back with the others? 

Jack noticed the look on her face. "Hey...." he said, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, everything's going to be ok."

Rani hung her head, letting her hair curtain her face. "I hope you're right." she whispered. She then looked up as Ratchet pulled the lever. 

"Optimus, the ground-bridge is ready and waiting!" Ratchet informed the Autobot leader as the portal appeared in the tunnel. 

"Autobot...jump!" Optimus commanded.

Everyone watched, waiting for the team to appear through the ground-bridge. But, it was taking a while.... "Do you think they're...." Rafael trailed off, worried.

Ratchet looked down at his wrist. "Four life signals...one very faint." he said, gravely. At this, the teenagers exchanged worried glances. 

Then, Optimus appeared! A great wave of relief washed over Rani, and she leaped over the railing, unafraid of the height...and ran over to him. "I know we haven't known each other for very long...but, I'm glad your ok." she told him with a smile. Optimus seemed to smile back behind his mouth-guard.

Then, Bulkhead appeared, making Miko happy and relieved as she rushed over to him. And then, the Autobots last to arrive was Bumblebee, with Arcee in his arms. The motorcycle Autobot's eyes were shut, and she looked like she wasn't moving, at all.... Seeing this saddened Jack, and Miko placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Ratchet stepped forward, a look of great concern on his face. "We lost one this week...." he said. "By the Allspark, don't let it be two!" 

Jack stepped forward, and put his hand onto Arcee's. The Autobot slowly opened her eyes. "Arcee?" the teen boy said, relief in his voice.

"Jack, really? There are other motorcycles, out there, in the world." Arcee replied, somewhat sarcastically and with a soft smile. 

"But, you're my first." Jack told her.

"And Megatron?" Ratchet asked Optimus.

"Not even he could have survived ground-zero." the lead Autobot replied. 

"Prime!" Agent Fowler exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention. The man was fixing his tie as he made his way toward the elevator. "I didn't get to thank you, 'Bots, for the save. I owe you one. We all do." 

Before the elevator door could close, Rani dashed up there and threw herself into the elevator just in time. "Agent Fowler-" she began as the elevator began going up. 

But the man held up his hand to stop her. "Look...I don't care who you are, where you came from, or what you're doing hanging out with the Autobots." he told her, though his tone wasn't rude. "Right now, I couldn't care less. Just...be careful. Alright? And if you're in school, don't skip out just to hang with them. Got it?" 

Although surprised, Rani nodded in understanding. 

On the roof of the base, Agent Fowler gave her a polite farewell wave before heading towards a helicopter, who was waiting for him. Rani watched as he flew away in said helicopter...and that was when she noticed that the sky had begun to get dark. Sunset was approaching....

The teen girl watched the sunset, for a minute. Then, she looked up at the sky. A part of her had a bad feeling that she and the Autobots had not seen the last of Megatron. Could he really not have survived the destruction of the space bridge? And what about that entire army of undead Cybertronian warriors? Had they been destroyed? And what was to happen, now that earth has been saved? 

After a few minutes, Rani went back into the base with those disturbing questions in mind. When the elevator door opened and she stepped out, she saw that the other teenagers were hanging out with Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead...while Optimus and Ratchet seemed to be discussing something important. Mostly everyone seemed to be having a good time, and being very social. Something she...wasn't. She smiled, warmly, nonetheless...glad that the younger teenagers were having the time of their lives since earth had been saved.

She descended down the stairs, and headed toward the tunnel. She felt like she needed to go back to the hangar. Sadly, she didn't really belong, here, with the other teenagers and the Autobots. She had always been that lone-wolf girl for years...what was the point in stopping that?

Rafael stopped chatting with Bumblebee when he noticed the eldest teenager beginning to leave with her hands in her pockets. "Rani!" he called out to her, making her stop and barely moving her head to look at him. "You're leaving?" At this, everyone stopped and looked over at her in surprise.

Rani shrugged. "Why not? It's not like I really belong here...." she replied.

"Are you insane?!" Miko exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "We just totally saved our planet, and you're not even going to celebrate with us? But, we ordered pizza!"

Rani looked down at the floor, sadly. "I'm...not a party person. Sorry...." she said. "Besides, somebody's gotta look after my home." She began to leave, again.

"But, this is your home, now!" Rafael exclaimed, and she stopped in shock, not believing what she was hearing. "I mean...isn't it? And, aren't we a team? You're one of us, Rani! Please, don't leave...."

Optimus studied the human teenager. He sensed that something was wrong with her, but he couldn't quite understand what. 

Rani's shoulders slumped. "Me? Part of your team?" she asked in disbelief, and with sadness. "But, I didn't do anything to help! B-Besides...it's not like you guys really want me around. I'm not social, I know nothing about technology like you, Raf, and I nearly got us all killed on that ship when I had that episode! What's the point?...."

"So what?" Miko argued. "You followed Jack and Raf, earlier, because you were worried. Right? And you were definitely worried about the Autobots when they went out into space! And about your little episode? That happened, once. Right? If it ever happens, again, we'll know what to do! Come on, Rani, don't leave! Please?"

"Why are you so desperate to have me stay?" Rani asked in confusion as she spun around to face them. 

"Because we like you!" Rafael told her. "So what if you're anti-social, or the quietest person in the world? You're really nice, and pretty protective when it comes to us!"

"Tch! I work, part-time, as a babysitter during the summer." she told him, looking away and rubbing her upper-arms. "Being protective is part of my job, and is a habit of mine. You guys don't need me.... I'll only slow everybody down!"

"Ugh!" Miko sighed in frustration. "Would you quit being stubborn, already? You're our friend, and we are asking you, nicely, to stay! Besides, don't you want to have so many adventures with these guys? When was the last time you actually had fun in your life?"

"Miko!" Jack whispered, warningly. 

Rani stared at the tunnel, letting Miko's words sink in. _What would your mother do?_ she asked herself. _She wouldn't run away from an opportunity like this. You know that! So, why are you?_ She was so lost in her own thoughts that she flinched when Rafael touched her elbow. She looked down at him, and saw the pleading look in his eyes. 

She sighed. "I.... I need some time to think...." she said, then ran out of the base through the tunnel. Everyone stared after her, some of them with worry.

On a small road bridge, not too far from the base, Rani was leaning forward onto the railing. The wind blew her short hair as she mulled over everything Rafael and Miko had said about her. She felt conflicted...part of her knew that they were right...especially Miko, but the other part of her still felt like there was no point in her being a member of the human team at the base. She felt useless, and as she recalled, she had hardly done a single thing to help on that Decepticon ship...other than go out of her mind and slow the Autobots down.

She let out a frustrated sigh...then sadly looked up at the sky. Some stars had come out as dusk drew to a close for the night. "I don't know, Mom...." she said. "What do you think? Am I even worth being part of their team? What would you do?...." She knew that her mother couldn't answer her, and that knowledge only saddened her more as she hung her head. "I wish I could hear you, again...."

"Do you always talk to yourself when you're alone?" a familiar voice asked, startling Rani and nearly making her fall right over the railing! She looked over to see an all-too-familiar blue motorcycle a couple feet away from her. "Sorry...didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Rani let out a sigh of relief. "Arcee, why are you here?" she asked, although, she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"To make sure you were alright." the Autobot replied. "We were worried, but nobody was making a move to go after you. So I did."

"Not trying to be rude, but aren't you supposed to be recovering from saving my planet?" the teen girl asked, solemnly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful! I just don't get why you followed me instead of staying at the base." 

"Look, Rani...." Arcee sighed. "I know you like to be on your own...most of the time. However, I also know how much you enjoyed hanging out with a bunch of robots from another planet. I'm having a hard time understand why, after everything we just went through, you would want to throw it away...leave the younger teenagers."

Rani rubbed her upper-arms, guilt beginning to wash over her. "I just.... I'm better off on my own." she replied. "I have been for years. And like I said, before, I don't belong over there at the base with you all."

"That's a lie, and you know it." Arcee told her in a matter-of-fact tone. "Optimus told me, in private, your story...what happened to your family. He also told me that you live, all alone, in an abandoned hangar. Not sure if you've noticed, but he wasn't a fan of what he saw, yesterday. Not that he'd ever admit it, out loud, but...I think you've grown on him, kid." Surprised at this, Rani looked at Arcee. "He gets worried about you, when you're out here on your own." 

Rani cast her eyes downward, that guilt growing bigger by the minute. 

"I'm not trying to force you into coming back." Arcee told her, her tone of voice calm and kind. "Really, it's your choice whether you want to or not. But, if you decide to stay living on your own like this, at least have the decency to let Optimus know. And Raf.... Oh, and about feeling like you would be useless being part of the team? Guess what, I used to feel the same way, a long time ago. And, I don't regret not being on my own. Optimus and the others, including the kids, are like family to me. I wouldn't have it any other way." She backed up, then, and turned around, as if to go back to the base. "You have 5 seconds to hop on before I leave." 

_"Go...._ " a small voice inside Rani said. _"You know you want to._ _"_ That gave her the shove she needed, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Throwing away all doubts, for now, the teen girl ran forward and hopped onto Arcee. 

_They're all right,_ she thought as she gripped the handle-bars. _For now...._

"Good choice." Arcee told her, then revved up and sped off in the direction of the base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, I guess this chapter got a bit angsty, there? I'm not sure...I've never used that term, in my life, or in any of my fanfics. I don't read stuff with angst in it, really.... Not that I can recall, anyway. Could someone please tell me if this chapter did get angsty, because I'm not sure if it did xD. I won't apologize for it, since Rani really hasn't had the best life.... I'm rambling, sorry. Moving on! ^^;


End file.
